Chongqing farmer finds ancient sword, unwittingly uses it as kitchen knife for several years

Government officers from Chengkou county, Chongqing province recently discovered an ancient sword that had been used as a kitchen knife by an elderly farmer for several years.The 60-year-old farmer, named Yi Shouxiang, found the sword while digging on his farmland five years ago.According to People’s Daily, the sword bearing three written characters was rather rusty but its pointed end and the hilt were nowhere to be found. After polishing and sharpening the sword, Li has used it as a knife ever since.The value of the sword was revealed when the government officers recently visited Li’s village in search of farm tools of historical value for exhibition. The sword is suspected to originate from the Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1912) due to the presence of three Chinese characters which read “Qing Long Jian” (Green Dragon Sword).Although the sword is estimated to be very old, by polishing the blade Yi may have hampered efforts to determine its exact age. The officers have contacted the local cultural bureau to evaluate the sword’s historical value as soon as possible.By Lucy Liu[Image via Chongqing Evening News]